


I Would Steal The Stars (For You)

by unsentpromises



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Artistic License, Canon-Typical Violence, Fake Science, Immortality, M/M, Not Beta Read, Slow Build, What-If, real magic, time lapse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 18:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7724485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unsentpromises/pseuds/unsentpromises
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The antidote for Conan to return to Shinichi has lost all potency; Pandora has been found and used in the face of the early demise of Kuroba Kaito leaving him immortal; and the rest of the world knows nothing about the fate of these two. </p><p>Regardless of this they must find a way to continue on with their lives - for better or worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Would Steal The Stars (For You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no cure for Conan to return to Shinichi, so he makes peace with becoming Conan. Kaito Kid is immortal thanks to Pandora and the heist gone wrong. 
> 
> Life moves on, so they must as well. It's not all bad.

By now having grown into the age of fourteen a second time Conan is entirely unmoved at how he manages to unsettle grown adults with his presence. Most forget whatever seemed so misplaced about him quickly enough and the ones who focused too closely were often the types Conan had no pity for. Murderers were a little too quick to catch onto the scent of fellow predator, after all.

So Conan doesn't so much as twitch when the middle-aged man turns toward him while stuffing his hand into his coat. Reaching for the pistol that Conan knew was concealed there. 

"The truth always has a way of coming out, uncle." He said instead.

The man hesitated and seemed to take stock of the boy. 

"You shouldn't be out so late, boy."

But his hand doesn't leave his coat, no doubt holding onto the stock of his gun for comfort. An illusion of control.

Conan only offered a tilt of his head. There was nothing innocent about his smile, nor in the hard accusation of his eyes. Eyes always too sharp for a child no matter if adulthood loomed closer by the day. Conan's knees were still knobby and his muscles undeveloped despite his active lifestyle. The body of a child with the mind of an adult trapped within.

The discomfort was clear on the man's face. Ishida Sogen is an unremarkable person overall. Plain features he did nothing to stand out and his desk job didn't attest to any particular skills. He was amiable enough, respectable enough, and capable enough to lead a tedious sort of life. One that had mostly kept within the neat lines drawn by society. But he wasn't so meticulous by nature to have been prepared for something as stressful as a con woman to insert herself into his life. 

Everything had unraveled from there. Or perhaps it had only asserted itself then.

Perhaps, Conan thought, Ishida's greatest offense had been being too human. Too prone to weakness. To desire that which he did not have to believe in an illusion offered to him. Conan understood well the desire for change, to put the world the way one wished it to be - but he also understood reality accepted no substitutes.

"Where are your parents?" Ishida asked, playing the part of the responsible citizen.

"Don't know." And it wasn't even a lie on Conan's part. Where his parents were was a complete mystery to him - he hardly bothered to keep track any longer. 

That statement, or the bland tone Conan offered, appeared to come as a surprise. "Won't someone be worried about you?"

Conan shifted on his feet and scuffed his shoes against the pavement. The street was quiet enough that it was almost audible. 

"Maybe." That was a lie.

The shift in the air was nearly a tangible thing. Ishida smiled, close-mouthed, at Conan and began to creep closer, away from his car. All the while he kept his hand on his pistol. There was a tang of metal to Ishida's person - iron. Not the sharp or overwhelming, sickening smell of copper first, but it was buried under the earthy and musky scent of whatever cologne the man wore. The lingering scent of blood Conan's practiced nose could pick out once the man had gotten close enough.

Only roughly five meters away the man gestured to his car. 

"Come on I'll drive you home. It's dangerous for you to be wandering around alone right now." 

Were Conan younger, or even his physical age, he wouldn't have taken the offer. Fourteen was old enough to know enough about the traps that awaited in the world set for those who were lured. The ones most people feared in shadows. But even Conan could feel the way his hair stood on end along his arms, instincts perked for survival - insisting not to trust this man.

And his instincts didn't lie. Conan knew what awaited him should he take the offer. Death and a place in the truck beside the woman's body already in the man's cramped car trunk. 

"I think it would be more dangerous if I got into a stranger's car. Especially one that smells like blood. Right uncle?" Conan might have laid on the innocent tone a little too thick, because the pistol came out in a rush following his words.

Conan looked down the muzzle of the pistol, older and not properly maintained. Only a revolver, so limited to six shots - likely minus the two in his victim, still unnamed. It should have roused more fear in him but Conan was aware of the other eyes observing them, unlike Ishida.

"Why do you need to make this more difficult." It was an irritated utterance, not a question.

"I really wouldn't if I were you. It won't change anything, Ishida-san." 

The cocking of the gun proved it might have been the wrong moment to let slip Conan knew the man's identity. A prickle of real fear passed as a shiver down his spine like a chill. 

A long shadow fell down over the pair on the small, empty side street. The street lamps flickered but somehow it did nothing to disturb the cast shadow. 

Ishida immediately looked up at the witness to his threats. The figure was poised at the edge of a rooftop and backlit; obscuring them to a featureless shadow from above as well as below. But the silhouette was familiar enough. Not everyone ran around wearing a top hat and cape.

"He tried to warn you." Kid's voice said, ominous and clear. 

Panicked Ishida turned to Conan and swung his aim back toward the boy who had enough sense to move in his distraction. Enough sense to open the truck of the man's car to expose the body of the woman. Which did nothing to calm the gunman.

Before Ishida could so much as take a step in Conan's direction, with a new glint of vengeance in his eyes, the street lights shattered in a shower of glass and sparks. The street went dark but still Kid's shadow seemed to lay heavy over the street. The effect was unnatural. Not remedied when there was a crisp snap of fingers and the street lamps flickered back to life in lively, blue flames. 

The too close click of shoes across the pavement made Ishida turn away from the view of his handy work, breath coming too quickly in his agitated state. 

"Why the hell is Kaito Kid here?" Ishida shouted as he turned to come face to face with said man.

By only the too dim light of the local residence and the fluttering blue light from the lamps Kid looked unearthly. His head cocked and he smiled at Ishida once the man had turned his focus on him. The smile was not a kind one. Nothing had been jovial about Kid's posture or tone before, and it was not there now either.

"I am a phantom thief after all. I knew there was a soul at unrest here, calling out for justice. Ishida-san, are you ready to accept the consequences of your own actions?" 

Conan started where he was beside the trunk, just out of immediate view, at the sound of a gunshot. A spike of worry made itself known at the silence that followed.

But when Conan lifted his head to look out, Ishida laid in a heap on the street and Kid was still on his feet.

The lamps down the street to the main road were still covered in small blue flames. 

"A little overly dramatic, don't you think?" Conan asked as he stepped out into the open street once more to regard Kid.

Merely stepping over the unconscious man Kid made to meet Conan.

"You're one to talk about dramatics. Detectives are a more flashy than they care to admit." Kid gave him a once over before his usual grin appeared. "Evening."

Conan just snorted at the shift in mood. "Sleeping gas?"

"Mm." Kid spared a glance over his shoulder for Ishida where he lay slumped still. "Do I need to interfere anymore tonight?"

"Didn't need to in the first place you moron." Conan groused, but admittedly there was no real venom to the words. 

Shaking his head Kid just sighed. "I wish you'd be a little more careful. My heart can't take this you know."

That was a lie they both knew to be completely false. While Kid was strangely, deeply fond of Conan he wouldn't be dying anytime soon. For any reason. Not after everything that had happened. The reminder was enough for Conan to offer Kid a softer expression.

"How are you holding up?" Conan thought to ask as they waited for the sound of the approaching sirens to draw closer. He'd called the police before confronting Ishida, he wasn't stupid.

Kid considered it and shrugged. "Was bored so I went looking for you. Have any plans after this?"

Kaito couldn't exactly go out and about with just anyone, least of all these days when he hadn't aged since he had turned eighteen six years ago. Only a select few knew the truth about Kaito Kuroba, and even fewer the truth about Kaito Kid on top of that. Knew that Pandora was a curse that Kid had taken on himself in lieu of the world paying for his inaction. Eternal youth, immortality, timeless-ness. Conan didn't pity him, no, he understood all too well the cruelty of time when it was forced out of its natural way. It put them in something of the same boat. 

Conan had been there that night, for that heist. To see Kid bleeding and clutching to the pearl that had been Pandora. Not a gem at all. 

"No, I'm free." 

"Did you have dinner yet?" Kid asked and glanced up as the sirens drew nearer. 

He had but it was nearly midnight by now. "I could eat."

Kid nodded and without the usual smoke or mirrors Kuroba Kaito stood before Conan instead. It was still new, this new hobby of Kaito's. One he still hadn't fully decided if he believed or not. Even if he'd seen a magical artifact stop the teenager's aging already. Real magic was a step further toward a world of possibilities Conan wasn't quite ready for.

"Those magic lessons with Koizumi seem to be going well." Conan commented in reference to the street lamps.

That seemed to remind Kaito he ought to right what he'd altered because he looked up at the street lamps too. A snap and the ethereal blue flames were replaced by the artificial light that belonged. The ominous shadow of Kid was gone and everything looked right with the world once more. Or as right as it could be in light of a man's murder being revealed to the world. 

"Not too bad." Conan grudgingly admitted. It wasn't a lack of appreciation for Kid's skill but Kid didn't usually need the encouragement.

Kaito offered a small, sincere smile that proved tonight was one of the bad nights for him. 

Conan resigned himself to spending the night in Ekoda, sending a text to Haibara to claim he'd spent the night at the professor's. 

"I believe we should make our exit now." Kaito said and offered a hand as the sirens seemed all too close.

He took the offered hand and allowed Kaito to lead him down the narrow alley back to the main road. Conan didn't try to pull his hand away, offering the comfort and companionship that his friend seemed to need tonight. It was only fair since it was how their lives went now. Kaito didn't hesitate to offer him the same consideration and Conan had learned to be a better friend than he once was. 

It was late and they made an odd pair but they weren't treated to many odd looks during their walk.

If Kaito had something he wanted to talk about he'd bring it up at his own pace. This was a mutual agreement between them - don't ask, just wait. 

Conan did glance up at Kaito who had been even taller than Shinichi was, though not by much. His face looked a little tense but everything else in his posture was carefully loose. Years of subterfuge and disguise were not easily lost on Conan. They could be honest with one another, almost always completely, but they weren't always ready to be honest. The cap that Kaito had pulled on that shadowed his eyes told Conan he'd need to be patient for this particular conversation to unfold. Perhaps for more than just a night. But patience came easier between them with the time and practice.

And Kid had nothing but time left. Conan had more time than he should.

The place they ducked into was small, mostly empty, and had the lingering smell of good food. It was enough to make Conan's stomach growl.

Somehow he thought it was worth the embarrassment of it if it wrung a smile out of Kaito.

No one seated them and they instead picked out a spot off to the side in the back, out of immediate sight of the door. Kaito let Conan choose where he'd rather sit first before he dropped into the seat beside him instead of across from him. It wasn't uncommon for Kaito to seek out his company or to be tactile but Conan admittedly still was surprised by it at moments. That someone like Kaito would trust him to be this close. It was perhaps the reason Conan tried as hard as he did to watch for the times he knew the teenager needed the contact to offer it to him. 

Cold barley tea was given to them both without prompting from the single waitress wandering from behind the bar where the majority of the remaining patrons sat. She looked tired and didn't so much as greet them. Neither Conan or Kaito took offense to that. 

Instead they sipped at their tea to hold off some of the lingering heat of the day that would return just as fierce by the time the sun rose again. Summer had a way of being oppressive at times and Conan looked forward to winter returning already. Even if it meant lessons he'd already sat through once. The library at least had a greater selection and Kaito was surprisingly helpful to offer him some of his own literature for variety. Conan still hadn't fully worked his way through the electrical engineering textbook he had received most recently, but it was helpful to his detective pursuits. 

Kaito hadn't taken off the hat yet, which meant he wanted to hide a bit longer; so Conan let him. 

"How are the kids doing?" Kaito asked conversationally. 

It was a way of putting off serious talk but Conan knew for a fact that Kaito also was fond of his little ragtag team of detectives. He could understand it, they were endearing. They helped remind Conan sometimes all the struggle was worth it to protect people like them. 

So Conan went on to explain the recent going ons with the kids. Catching the easy smile Kaito offered when Conan had gone off on a tangent about each of the kids in turn showed improvement with their deductions and were broadening their reading choices. It kept Conan talking to see Kaito relax slightly to hear about it all. He paused to sip at his tea off and on, to wet his throat as he talked and Kaito made a hum of agreement or muttered a reply to show he was listening. The beat of conversation was steady and admittedly comforting in its familiarity. Enough so that Conan wasn't surprised when Kaito's eyes closed as he listened. So on he want to talk about Haibara's recent attempts to get the professor to lose some weight for his health. Kaito had a strange soft-spot for Haibara that he'd never explained and Ai was just as prone to be strangely lenient with the thief in turn. 

His updates were interrupted when the waitress wordlessly brought them something to eat without any orders being taken. 

Kaito thanked her politely and didn't seem to bat an eye at the lack of input on their order. The smell was enough to make Conan unworried if his friend wasn't either.

There was more food than Conan had expected they'd order but Kaito had a bigger appetite than most would have expected given his lack of body fat. Having seen the routines that Kaito put himself through he knew just how many calories other burned in a day. Though Haibara had snarked at the magician to ease up on the sugar. 

Conan took a bite of some of the cold noodles and admittedly felt himself perk up.

"Good, huh?" Kaito asked with a knowing smile. 

Only mildly sheepish, Conan nodded and took another bite. Good food was a weakness of his and Kaito had figured it out quickly. Which probably explained his inclination to feed him at every turn offered to him. 

"You know this place then?"

Kaito nodded. "Familiar with the better places open this late."

After a heist Conan didn't doubt that Kaito could use a little pick-me-up so it made sense. "Ah."

Somehow he expected by the time that he graduated high school Conan would know all of them for himself. But he wouldn't complain about that one, especially it any place wasn't that pricey either for food like this. The kids might like it even, if they were open at reasonable hours too.

They ate quietly with the sounds of the other patrons and a television playing in the background. 

Conan watched as Kaito ate. He'd seen the other eat a frankly sickening amount of food in an impossible period of time before. Time management, Kaito had explained once, had been something he'd learned fast when he became Kid. Meals were sometimes little more than breaks in his lengthy heist preparations. Or eating on the move had taught Kaito he wouldn't always be able to enjoy his food. 

Now he didn't rush but he could never seem to get rid of the odd calculated way he ate. Conan almost thought he seemed to count out the bites of each portion before he ate it. 

The food had mostly vanished by the time Kaito was ready to talk. Conan had almost expected another argument about calculated risk to come up. That was an old, repeated one between the two of them. 

"I haven't told my mother." 

Kaito didn't need to tell him what he meant by that. Being a thief was one thing but broaching the topic of being immortal was another matter. 

If only to buy himself a moment to think on how to reply Conan sipped at his cold tea. But Kaito spoke up again.

"I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet."

Conan hadn't exactly told his parents the truth about his situation either so he could sympathize. Telling his parents their son wasn't coming back was a conversation he could only want to put off as long as he was able to. It was a moot point until the crows were taken care of anyhow. 

"Not an easy conversation." Conan hoped he conveyed that he understood his reasoning to put it off.

Based on the way Kid leaned back in his seat it seems to have. 

"What will you do in the meantime?" Yes, Conan already knew about the number of night classes Kaito had taken in the past few years. They ranged from formal college courses to a cooking class that Conan had reaped the rewards from personally. But he meant something else, if in a vague way.

Kaito offered him a shrug but he did reach up to remove the baseball cap he had on his head. He fiddled with the bill of the cap.

"I'm tempted to leave Ekoda. It's...getting difficult knowing I'll have to leave anyhow."

There was something vulnerable about the statement that made Conan stiffen in his seat. Made him guilty to have been too slow to have saved Kid needing to use Pandora in the first place. To know that his friend was going through the kind of loss he himself had felt when he became Conan. 

Still Conan dared to look up at Kaito and saw the familiar grief in his eyes.

"At least to decide and not have the decision made for me." Kaito offered as further explanation. 

Years of being so close to Ran, Sonoko, and everyone in his previous life but not being Shinichi had taught him the pain of distance. The kind no one could ever put into words. A sort that lived within a person between their mind and heart, reflecting into the rest of the world. Even someone so able to fool the word couldn't deny the truth of that situation. 

Being Conan had also given him new friends and a fresh perspective on his own life, but at that price. 

Kuroba looked older than he was sitting there, resting more of his weight against the booth seat. A tiredness revealing itself in intervals that went beyond the need for a good night of sleep into needing the world to stop to catch up to its pace. 

It slipped out of his mouth before he'd been able to think better of it. "What do you think of Beika?"

The question had been unexpected based on the surprised look Conan got from Kaito in return.

But under the confusion of the question Conan though it seemed like the obvious answer. After all it meant Conan could see him regularly and Haibara would be close by, plus the rest of the kids. Agasa seemed to fascinate Kaito too with his inventions and Conan thought Agasa deserved someone so willing to give him credit for his creativity, too. 

"The Kudou place is empty now." 

Conan was much more interested in the remains of his tea than meeting Kaito's eyes following his not-quite explanation.

Yet, to prove they had always been more like-minded than they cared to admit, Kaito just chuckled.

"You really can't help but to try and rescue everyone, can you little detective?" Kaito's voice was so unrestrictedly fond when he spoke.

Conan couldn't help but to duck a little under the weight of the words and the lingering gratitude he could make out in them. His ears felt warm and palms a little damp, which he'd blame on the condensation of his glass readily.

But Kaito didn't tease him about it. Instead he set the cap he'd been wearing on Conan's head to give him a chance to hide. 

"One of your charming points. Really." 

It was obviously sincere too with that tone. 

"idiot, saving myself the trouble of having to go out of my way to keep an eye on you." Conan groused but didn't lift his head to look past the bill of the hat that was just a little too large for him.

Kaito's answering laughter wasn't doing anything for the lingering feel of heat prickling over Conan's ears and neck.

"As tsundere as ever."

"Careful or I'll show you yandere instead, you bastard." Despite the fact they both knew better.

There was a lull in their conversation then. Conan was taking the time, likely being offered to him, to cool down. It wasn't uncomfortable but he was embarrassed to be called out on his attempt to help. 

Kaito settled up their tab and asked for a second round of barely tea as well when the waitress came back to collect their empty dish ware. 

When they were alone again Kaito kept his eyes too pointedly on his empty glass. 

"By chance, does this invitation of yours come with company?"

The immediate denial on Conan's tongue held itself back. 

"After all it must be getting a little awkward to stay with the Mouri family despite the payment your parents offer to the old man. What with you being older now and all." 

That was an understatement. Conan's body was undergoing the very beginning to puberty all over again. Kogoro wasn't the most sensitive about it either, which had a way of wearing on his nerves all too easily. The agency wasn't meant to house three like it was, so Conan held his tongue. 

"What are you suggesting?" Conan figured he should be direct.

Kaito gave a careless shrug that was a little too loose to be authentic. "It is your home."

Conan tilted his head to look up at Kaito's face, curious. "Do you want company?"

"...yes, actually." Kaito admitted. "But not if you aren't offering. I thought it might be a little kinder on you too."

It would mean leaving Ran and even Kogoro behind. He'd gotten used to them, being a part of their daily lives. For all the better or worse aspects of it he would miss it, he thought. Kogoro wasn't all bad and he seemed to care in his own gruff, stilted way about Conan in a way Shinichi had never experienced. Ran was always his reason for staying but she would need to be getting on with her own life now. Conan would hold her back if he clung on too tightly. Having put his own life on hold he couldn't do that to her. 

"I could do worse for a roommate." Conan said in lieu of blunt acceptance.

Katio nodded to that. "I could be Hattori." 

Much as Conan did love Heiji, like a weird brother, he would probably strangle him if he had to live with him. But the way some told it that was how the whole sibling business went. Kaito didn't have that odd lingering urge to baby him that Heiji did. Kaito also didn't have any trouble keeping up with him. 

But also, living with Kaito would be not having to lie.

That was an amazingly liberating temptation there. Not having to lie about where he was late at night; not needing to pretend to be a teenager; not needing to conceal some of his greatest secrets because they were out in the open already. Having someone at his back that could offer support against even his most capable enemies. 

"Try and set a bedtime for me and I'll soccer ball you."

Kaito just laughed for that. "Careful because I will be feeding you, brat."

With how hopeless Conan was in the kitchen he had a point. 

"I'm not your dad or your brother." Kaito smiled when they got their refills of tea. "Not going to pretend to be, that would be rude."

Conan just offered a flat stare.

"Hey, gentleman, thank you." Kaito did sound mildly affronted.

"Taser." Conan chirped in reply, too-sweetly.

"You got me back for that one. You can defend yourself just fine, so don't act like a wounded damsel or I'll lose respect for you." Kaito flicked a little of the condensation on his glass at Conan.

Admittedly this would be something he could get used to. Conan could handle someone who treated him like an equal. Someone who while knowing he was capable remembered he was human as anyone else. 

"When do you want to move?" 

Conan thought about that one. 

"During the summer. Best time really. Don't have to worry about school on top of moving then." Not that school was much of a problem for him.

"Mm." Kaito hummed his agreement to that. 

"But we should start by cleaning the place out." Conan knew the mansion could use it. He didn't visit as regularly as he should and Haibara refused to do all that work alone. Akai had been gone for a few years now.

"Sure you're up to living with me?" Kaito asked.

Conan hesitated at what seemed like a repetitive question until he caught the sharper look on the other's face. He didn't mean living with Kaito he meant living with Kaito Kid. Which was another beast altogether to be fair. One that deserved a little thought. 

Given what he knew about Kaito now, he thought so. There was so much history between them - secrets, pain, and struggle. 

"Are you going to start hurting people?"

"No." Kaito actually sounded upset for the question.

"Then don't be stupid, it's fine." Conan snorted to show how unimpressed he was. 

Inevitably living together would have new complications neither of them could account for, but that was the way of life. Conan would need to need to learn to deal with Kid living under the same roof as Kaito. They would be in each others pocket when they wanted nothing more than to be alone sometimes. They would clash and argue and outright fight. They would want to do things their own way.

But it seemed like it would be worth it.

 


End file.
